Genome-wide analyses reveal antibiotic resistance genes and mechanisms in pathogenic Pseudomonas bacteria

Abstract

Background: The global emergence and re-emergence of antibiotic resistance among the Pseudomonas pathogens causes great problems to patients undergoing chemotherapy. However, there is limited comparative information on the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mechanisms across the Pseudomonas pathogenic groups. Methods: The complete genomes of five Pseudomonas pathogen groups, P. aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, P. putida, P. stutzeri and P. syringae, were analyzed for ARGs. Results: A significant number of ARGs were identified in the P. aeruginosa genome compared to the other Pseudomonas pathogens. The opportunistic pathogens P. stutzeri and P. putida were shown to be the closest to P. aeruginosa with an average nucleotide identity (%) of 80.30 and 79.52.  The pathogen genome with the least hit was P. stutzeri. The four major antibiotic resistance mechanisms that include the efflux, inactivation, target alteration and efflux::target alteration were reported. Conclusion: The findings of this brief report could be useful in understanding the chemotherapeutics against antibiotic resistance strains of Pseudomonas pathogens